PonyTales

I need a little pampering again and I have been thinking to go for facial to my regular beautician for more than a year - still I have not been able to schedule an appointment time with her….sigh….BIG sighhhhhhh….

So, feeling a little worn out, tired, no mood and have been suffering migrain for the past 2 days, I found myself walking around in The Curve aimlessly (alone!) one fine afternoon.  Out of the blue, my eyes got fixed at these strategically located signboard from Urban Retreat and decided to follow it right till I pass MPH and it is located just next to it. I thought for a while and my mind came up with this excuse that a little pampering is God sent especially if you are Mommy (or Daddy) to a feisty 1+ toddler!

After looking at their competitive pricing, and the products they used - its a point of no return for me. I walk in and was greeted by their gracious front desk staff. I opted for an aromatherapy massage and she quickly offered me a better deal, RM109 for 1.5 hours of pure bliss instead of the standard 1 hour. Since its my first time there, I bite the bullet, took the deal given and have no regrets later.

The session starts with a simple floral foot bath at the corridor of the massage room. Massage room is adequately sized, dimly lit and overall comfy. The foot bath at the corridor somehow gave me a feeling of being pampered at home - very familiar and relaxing. The therapist is a middle age Thai lady who is very soft spoken, petit but strong, in terms of her massage…hahaha. Her massage skill is good because it is quite similar to those gentle wave strokes that I experienced back in Phuket. Phuket housed some of the best spa in the world along with very skillful therapists. The disposable hair cap given is also a good touch to keep my long hair neat. Massage is done on a PVC mattress but wrapped with large towels and batik, so its quite comfy with a small pillow given to support the head. Pillow is also wrapped with towel. The 1.5 hour long massage really felt just nice to take all the stress away from my weary body, as opposed to the normal 1 hr massage, which I usually felt that they finish too fast. The aroma oil used is also very very soothing lavendar with a hint of wood smell, which is just nice and not too girly - just the way I like it! I was not asked to choose the oil (unlike normal practise) but since they are using Harnn products, I would not want to question more. I have personally seen Harnn products when I was in Bangkok and it is truly one of the more up market spa products from Thailand.

Hubby could smell "the Rat" once I got home and he was wondering who has sneak out to the spa (who else rite!). When he finally heard from me, he was rather not pleased and turn into a whiny little boy who has just missed a treat! So, with that…we will have no choice but be back for more in the near future….hehehe…

(**Pictures are taken from Urban Retreat website)

Time pass really fast for me nowadays as I have lots to do, both at home and in office. I haven’t been writing much about Zoe, not as much as I wanted…sigh. She has really grown a lot these days - I would say she is no longer a baby, although strangers still like to refer to her as a baby. One friend commented that she still have a baby face. Sometimes, I tend to think really hard how the time had passed, months after months… but she is still very much my baby girl - no matter what trick is up her sleeve now

These are some of the things I observed she likes to do nowadays:

• Singing and dancing to Barney’s DVDs. She loves Barney and would run from the kitchen/room and glued to the TV instantly if she hears the Barney music starts playing. Her singing sometimes sounds more like shouting on top of her lung. When she dance, she will turn her body around with arms held up high or swing her body from side to side. She looks like she enjoyed the music a lot.
• When I sing the nursery rhymes that she recognises, she will show the gestures those kids do in Barney shows - Barney is really very influencial to little kids.
• She likes "Ring around a Rosie" too, she will hold my hands go round and round and when I say, "we all fall down!", she falls down immediately…sometimes too fast before I finish the sentence. She can do this non-stop till I have to surrender cause I am feeling giddy but she is still grinning from ear to ear. Where she got all those energy!!?
• She rides on her trike, push car and this rocking thingy we got for her from Ikea very independently now. She will even sometimes stand on her trike like a Mat Rempit - I still think this action is too much for a girl!!
• She seek for our attention more nowadays, calling us to witness her actions or the treasures she found at home - her calling usually sounds like "Chee! Cheee!"….she means see! see!. If we don’t budge, she will call till the cow comes home.
• She is starting to spoon feed herself - still a messy affair but can control the spoon better and put the spoon into her mouth, not elsewhere.
• If anything finishes (especially her Barney shows), she will hold her arms up, palm slightly open and wrist turning and tell us "Oh More!"…means No More!
• She understand if we are going out and will race to the door, try to grab her sandals and try to put them on - thou she do not know how. Sometimes, she try to wear Daddy’s shoes or sandals.  When I tell her to wear her sandals, she will sit down and wait for me to wear for her.
• She is very good at imitating us nowadays. Daddy just showed her the ultraman arms cross stance the other day and when I picked her up from Nanny the next day - she showed me the ultraman sign - this causes the whole of Nanny’s household to burst out laughing as if I am the monster…hahaha
• She is very talkative - mostly gibberish and can talk for a longer time. She likes to do that when Daddy and I are having a conversation - like she is taking part in the conversation as well.
• She likes small animals like rabbits, fish and tortoise. She is not afraid to touch them or feed them.
• She can play the shape sorter now, identifying the shape and the hole it can put through, but sometimes she still get a little confused.
• When she want me to place something for her, like her shape sorter. She will hold my palm, open it and put the shape unto my palm and point at the shaper sorter. Maybe she knows that I could not understand her language.
• She can get really whiny and demanding sometimes, especially when she wanted something we don’t want her to touch. Reasoning with her can be an uphill task.
• She knows she cannot play with the electrical socket, but she likes to test my patience. She will purposely touch the socket while looking at me and smiling cheekily. When I tell her not to, she will still stay put till I walk to her, and she will squeal in delight and run away…
• Erm…she can be considered quite good in sharing her food, when she is eating something and we said, "Ahh..?" with mouth open. She will shove the food into our mouth directly. Sometimes, it can be half eaten biscuits or fruits full of her saliva…eww!
• We let her walk by herself more nowadays, but the journey can be quite a long one, even to the car park or lift, as she stops and admire at everything that she fancies…
• She waves her hand and say a very soft "Hi!" when she likes it and she waves her hand to say, "Bye!" when she is leaving and sometimes, she sends a blowing kiss on her palm with a loud "Muak!". This usually melts the heart of the auntie next door and she gets a treat of chocolate biscuit or some home cooked stuff from this auntie quite often.

Its very engaging being with her now as she can reason better but yet, still show her babyness as and when she wants. She wants to play with me more nowadays and its nice and tiring at the same time. Sometimes, eventhou tired, I hope I can freeze time and have her just the way she is now…small, cuddly and cute!